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Fade Out, Fade In, Part 1 (TV series episode)
Fade Out, Fade In, Part 1 (also called "Fade In, Fade Out") was the 123rd episode of the CBS-TV series M*A*S*H. "Fade In, Fade Out", which was part one of an hour long two-part episode arc, was most notable for its off-screen departure of the character of Major Frank Burns and the arrival of a new surgeon, snooty Boston blueblood Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, played by David Ogden Stiers. The episode was written by Everett Greenbaum and Jim Fritzell and directed by Hy Averback. It originally aired on September 20, 1977. Synopsis Major Burns is despondent over the marriage of Margaret Houlihan to Donald Penobscott, so Colonel Potter has sent Frank to Seoul for some R&R. While he is gone, casualties begin to arrive and Frank has apparently fallen out of touch (with only scattered reports of him acting strangely and accosting women who resemble Margaret). Desperately needing a new surgeon, the upper-crust Bostonian Major Charles Emerson Winchester III is promptly shipped from Tokyo, Japan to South Korea by a colonel who owes him several hundred dollars from playing cribbage. Full episode summary Radar is worried that Frank isn't back from his R&R yet—which is very odd, since for all of Frank's faults, he's always been punctual. Col. Potter tells him not to worry about it... yet. Wounded arrive, and since neither Frank nor Margaret (who is still on her honeymoon) are back, the 4077th is very short-handed. One of the wounded is a doctor himself, Dr. Berman (Raymond Singer), whose chest wound is so severe that even Hawkeye isn't sure he'll be able to patch him up. During surgery, Potter complains aloud about Burns being missing. B.J. offers the theory that maybe - just maybe - Burns went to Tokyo to interrupt Margaret's honeymoon? Shortly after, Margaret comes back - early - from her honeymoon, in a very surly mood. She won't say why, and quickly heads off to the O.R. Meanwhile, Col. Potter gets two calls from M.P.s in Seoul, who say that a Major Frank Burns has twice accosted a blonde WAC and a blond Red Cross woman, but ran off before he could be apprehended. Potter thinks Frank is going nuts, and asks Radar to call a Col. Baldwin in Tokyo so he can send a fill-in surgeon while Frank is gone. In Tokyo, we see Col. Baldwin (Robert Symonds) receive the call, as he is playing cribbage with a doctor, Major Charles Emerson Winchester (David Ogden Stiers). Winchester is smug and arrogant, and he enjoys pointing out that he has beaten Baldwin in cribbage to the tune of $672.17. Baldwin realizes he has the perfect candidate to send to the 4077th. On the way to the camp, Winchester and his driver are shot at, and have to take cover. Their jeep is then hit, reducing it to a smoldering hunk of metal. The driver points the direction Winchester needs to travel, and heads back to his unit. Back at the 4077th, Col. Potter gets another call from the Seoul M.P.s, relating another tale of Frank flipping out and accosting various women, acting as though they're Margaret. He's still on the loose, unfortunately. While tending to patients in post-op, Klinger has a chance meeting with a patient named Schaeffer, who asks him about his cross-dressing. Specifically, Schaeffer asks Klinger how long he's attempted to get a discharge by cross-dressing. Klinger replies two years, to which Schaffer informs Klinger that he is a lawyer from the Adjutant General's office with the rank of Captain. Since Klinger has been cross-dressing for so long, Schaffer further advises him that he should legitimately qualify for a Section 8 discharge. Later, he and Klinger meet with Col. Potter, and Schaeffer informs Potter that he will convene a hearing as Klinger's attorney. Later, Winchester arrives at the camp riding an ox-cart, striking quite a contrast to his surroundings, since he is wearing his dress uniform and carrying all manner of personal items. Radar is the first person to greet him, and his general feeling of superiority over Radar is obvious. He is introduced to Col. Potter, Hawkeye, and B.J. as they are having a drink, and his stand-offishness immediately grates on everyone, insisting on calling everyone "Doctor" even after they introduced themselves by their nicknames. He then states he doesn't plan to "stick around long enough to get chummy." When word arrives that Dr. Berman has gone into heart failure due to a ventricular aneurysm, everyone rushes out. Winchester wonders what the "panic" is, and then states that he's performed the necessary procedure successfully over a dozen times. He performs the surgery, and it goes off without a hitch, except for the fact that Winchester spends a lot of time complimenting himself. Margaret is impressed, but Hawkeye and B.J. are less than thrilled. Frank calls Col. Potter, and tells him some news. Hawkeye and B.J. follow, just as Potter is getting off the phone. He tells them that Frank accosted another woman and her companion, except this time it was a Brigadier General and his wife. Burns is now being held for psychiatric evaluation. But that's not all the news - Frank is being transferred out of the 4077th... permanently. The news hits Hawkeye and B.J. like a bombshell - they toggle back and forth between delight and outrage that they're losing their favorite punching bag. As B.J. points out, "This reduces the enemy to just North Korea!" The doctors and Radar have a final toast for Frank; they agree that the toast must be something sensitive, and Hawkeye comes up with one: "Goodbye, Ferret Face." They drink to his memory, and then celebrate by wildly throwing piles of paper on Potter's desk into the air. The episode ends with Potter, in a bind because of the need of a surgeon to replace Frank, calling up Colonel Baldwin and making a deal to permanently assign Charles to the 4077th. The episode concludes. Research notes/Fun facts *Lots of minor characters have large speaking parts, but they somehow didn't merit named characters. These are depicted in the gallery below. Guest stars/Recurring cast *Rick Hurst as Schaeffer *Raymond Singer as Dr. Berman *Robert Symonds as Colonel Horace Baldwin *Tom Stovall as The Sergeant *William Flatley as M.P. Sergeant Williams *James Lough as Driver *Joseph Burns as Patient *Kimiko Hiroshige as Korean Woman *Uncredited appearances by **Patricia Stevens - she may be the nurse who greets Margaret when she returns from her honeymoon and enters the O.R. Margaret calls her "Baker". **Kellye Nakahara - outdoor triage scene early on **Gwen Farrell **Jennifer Davis **Jo Ann Thompson - outdoor triage scene early on Gallery Tom Stovall sergeant-fade out fade in.jpg|Tom Stovall plays a sergeant who doesn't want to go back to the front because he is sick of killing. He has several scenes and many lines but somehow didn't merit a named character. MP Williams-fade out fade in.jpg|William Flatley as the M.P. Sergeant who tells Potter about Frank's exploits in Seoul. The enlisted man's M.P. branch of service insignia is just visible on his left lapel. The name board indicates he is Sergeant Williams. James Lough driver-fade out fade in.jpg|James Lough a.k.a. James Carroll as Winchester's driver. He appears 7 times in M*A*S*H, mostly as various G.I.s. He has a named character, PFC Felix Kornhaus in Season 5 "End Run". External links *[http://www.tv.com/shows/mash/fade-out-fade-in-43322/ M*A*S*H episode Fade Out, Fade In, Parts 1/2 at TV.com] *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638303/ M*A*S*H episode Fade Out, Fade In, Parts 1 and 2 at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)] Category:Season 6 episodes